The present disclosure relates generally to personal flotation devices, and more particularly, pertains to an inflatable swim vest which is designed to be worn while swimming or doing water activities where swimming is a component, and can provide emergency flotation when desired to keep a user's head above the surface of the water. Triathletes, lone swimmers and others drown every year because there is no flotation vest designed to be comfortably worn, unrestrictive enough to allow for proficient movement while swimming and provides no buoyancy while swimming unless the riser finds him or herself in an emergency in which case the vest is deployed and can function as an effective life saving device by providing immediate buoyancy and floating the user to safety.
Personal flotation devices are commonly used and or required in water activities where individuals wish to float on top of the water. The safety provided by these devices is enjoyed by many users. Unfortunately, two characteristics of inherently buoyant life vests or life jackets prevent users from wearing them all the time when performing water activities: their bulk and their inherent buoyancy. The inherent buoyancy of these jackets makes swimming cumbersome, makes them illegal in triathlons and is unnecessary when performing activities like stand-up paddle boarding, or surfing except in cases of emergency. The majority of inherently buoyant life vests are also bulky, making them uncomfortable when performing activities like canoeing, kayaking and fishing which leads to a lack of use or compliance and an increased chance of accidental drowning in these activities.
In order to alleviate these two problems of bulk and inherent buoyance, individuals have begun to incorporate inflatable bladders into water sports to provide users with the instantaneous flotation they may need in case of emergency. Several proposals have been made to combine a wetsuit with inflation capabilities as evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,976,894, 7,351,126, 7,699,679 and 8,231,421.
Unfortunately there are many applications where a simple sleek vest would be desirable rather than a wetsuit or any variations thereof Users often do not want to wear a wetsuit or variations thereof on hot days or when performing certain activities, but they Still need the security of emergency buoyancy. One example of an application where an inflatable vest is superior to inflatable wetsuits is in triathlon events where rules limit the designs and types of wetsuits that can be worn. Unfortunately, most inflatable wetsuits would not be permitted in a triathlon event and therefore participants still run the risk of drowning every time they compete. Such devices need to be designed with the rules of triathlons in mind to mitigate this danger by providing a minimalist emergency flotation vest constructed of triathlon legal materials that can be worn over participants' legal wetsuits without slowing them down or inhibiting their swimming strokes. Other proposals have incorporated bladders into vests intended to be used onshore or in boats, but not designed to be form fitting, capable of functioning in water and able to be worn while swimming aggressively in activities like triathlon races, surfing and snorkeling. These proposals are evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,839,933, 5,746,633, 7,047,966, and 7,704,113. These vests are not designed to contour to the body and to be worn while performing activities like swimming in water and as such do not address the need previously described.
As such, a need remains for an inflatable personal flotation device that is designed to be simply slipped over a user's head and shoulders and secured with straps, and that is form fitting enough to be worn without limiting a user's ability to swim normally. The device needs to fit the contours of many different user body types and not create unnecessary drag in the water while still being able to provide emergency flotation immediately when deployed.